The King's Speech, Colin Firth, and Natalie Portman win top Oscars
- From: AAP
- March 01, 2011
Jacki Weavers arrives at the 83rd Academy Awards, wearing a Collette Dinnigan gown. Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images Source: Getty Images
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban arrive before the 83rd Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) Source: AdelaideNow
of 2
THE King's Speech has been named top picture at today's Oscars, while star of the film, Colin Firth, and actress Natalie Portman have scooped top acting awards.
After winning practically every award out there for ``The King's Speech,'' Firth topped off a phenomenal year, winning the lead actor Oscar for playing George VI's attempts to overcome his stuttering before he assumes the throne of England.
``I have a feeling my career just peaked,'' Firth deadpanned as he accepted the honor.
Nominated for 12 Academy Awards - the most of any film - it won four Oscars, including statuettes for original screenplay and Tom Hooper for director.
Meanwhile, Natalie Portman danced away with Oscar for playing a prima ballerina spinning into madness in ``Black Swan'', dashing Aussie Nicole Kidman's Oscar hopes for her role in "Rabbit Hole"
It has been a magical awards season for Portman, who had swept nearly every honor she was nominated for, and she has glowed every step of the way: She met her now fiance on set.
``This is insane. ... I'm so grateful to do the job that I do,'' Portman said.
Aussie Geoffrey Rush missed on a best supporting actor Oscar for his role in "The King's Speech'', losing to Christian Bale for "The Fighter".
The Australian actor was considered by many pundits as a strong chance for the best supporting actor Oscar for his role as a speech therapist in the movie, but the Oscar went to Bale.
Rush's nomination was the fourth of his career after winning the best actor Oscar in 1997 for the Australian film "Shine" and achieving two supporting actor nominations for "Shakespeare in Love" in 1999 and in 2001 for "Quills".
Rush's loss followed that of veteran Aussie star and people's favourite Jacki Weaver, who missed out on the supporting actress award for her performance in "Animal Kingdom". "The Fighter's" Melissa Leo was the winner.
But it wasn't all bad for the Aussie contingent. The King's Speech's director Hooper, who holds Australian and British citizenship, inflicted an upset win over Oscar favourite, The Social Network's David Fincher.
Perth-born, Melbourne-raised 37-year-old Shaun Tan won the short animated Oscar for his film, "The Lost Thing". ``Wow, this is quite surreal,'' Tan said in his acceptance speech.
The Lost Thing, has been praised by critics but was considered a longshot for the Oscar.
Other Aussie winners in non-acting categories were make-up artist Dave Elsey, who won an honour with Rick Baker for "The Wolfman", and Kirk Baxter, for his editing work on the Facebook film, "The Social Network".
Baxter, nominated with his American colleague Angus Wall, made a triumphant walk on stage inside the Kodak Theatre at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards.
The 38-year-old former Sydneysider was nominated with Wall two years ago for their editing of the Cate Blanchett film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but they missed out on the Oscar.
``Inception'' also ended the night with four Oscars. ``The Social Network'' won three. And ``Toy Story 3,'' ``The Fighter'' and ``Alice in Wonderland'' each won two apiece.
Welsh actor Bale won supporting actor for his role as the drug-addicted former boxer in ``The Fighter.'' ``What the hell am I doing here in the midst of you?'' Bale said, referring to all the talent in the room.
He singled out his co-stars, including Leo, who earlier had won for supporting actress for playing his mother in the film. But, Bale joked, ``I'm not going to drop the f-bomb like she did.'' (Leo later apologized for the emotional slip.)
Bale and Leo were considered shoo-ins, and it was just two of many awards that went as expected.
Adapted screenplay went to Aaron Sorkin for ``The Social Network,'' while original screenplay went to David Seidler for ``The King's Speech.'' ``Toy Story 3'' won animated film and best original song for Randy Newman's ``We Belong Together.''
Art direction went to production designer Robert Stromberg and set decorator Karen O'Hara for ``Alice in Wonderland.'' Cinematography went to Wally Pfister for ``Inception.''
Director Susanne Bier became only the third woman to win in the foreign language film category for Denmark's ``In a Better World.'' (Bier had won the Golden Globe.) Original score went to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for ``The Social Network,'' and ``Inception'' won for sound mixing and sound editing. Makeup went to ``The Wolfman,'' and costume design went to Colleen Atwood for ``Alice in Wonderland.''
Other honorus given out were short subject documentary, which went to Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon for ``Strangers No More,'' a film about a Tel Aviv school for children struggling to overcome adversity. Live action short went to ``God of Love'' by Luke Matheny, who thanked his mother for doing craft services during shooting the film about a modern-day Cupid.
Oprah Winfrey handed out the Oscar for documentary feature to Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs for ``Inside Job,'' about what caused the country's economic crisis. Ferguson noted that three years after the crisis, not a single financial executive has gone to jail, ``and that's wrong,'' he said.
A surprise appearance by Billy Crystal, considered by many to be the best Oscar host over the past 20 years, earned a standing ovation. He introduced a tribute to Bob Hope, who had hosted the awards 18 times. Through movie magic and some crafty dubbing, Hope was projected, hologram-like, at a podium to crack wise and introduce presenters Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. The pair handed out Oscars for visual effects (``Inception'') and editing (``The Social Network'').
To lure younger audiences, the academy chose James Franco, nominated for lead actor for ``127 Hours,'' and Anne Hathaway, nominated two years ago for lead actress for ``Rachel Getting Married,'' to emcee the awards, held at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.
The pair kicked off the show with a clever montage in which they were injected into the top Oscar-nominated films, including ``Inception,'' ``True Grit,'' ``The Kids Are All Right,'' ``The King's Speech'' and more. After taking a trip ``Back to the Future,'' the couple ended up onstage for banter with each other - and their mother and grandmother. A bit long, perhaps, but otherwise nonoffensive and kind of sweet.
Before the ceremony, Weaver, 63, could hardly contain her excitement as she arrived on the red carpet dressed in a white and silver princess dress by Australian designer Collette Dinnigan.
"I feel like I'm at the Olympic Games," she told reporters outside the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. "I feel like I'm one of the five finalists in the grand final... I never expected this after 48 years of acting. I can't believe it. I'm so thrilled. It's such an honour."
She also said she had been warned about the post-Oscar blues.
"Somebody told me that tomorrow is such a let down after the last few weeks of the awards season," she said.
Fellow Aussie stars, Rush and Nicole Kidman, played down their chances of winning Oscars as they arrived on the red carpet. Kidman, wearing a Dior gown, said while it was ``wonderful'' to be nominated for a best actress Oscar for Rabbit Hole, she is excited to be at the Oscars as a nominee with husband Keith Urban.
``I have never been nominated while I have been married to Keith so this is a first for us,'' Kidman, a three-time nominee, told US TV network ABC on the red carpet.
More Story Content
Have your say
- Skip to:
- Read comments
- Add comments
Comments on this story